The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-People First Party (PFP) alliance yesterday said that President Chen Shui-bian's (
In a news conference with both local and foreign media yesterday, Chen, among various other points set forth with regard to cross-strait interaction, called for the signing of an agreement between the both sides of the Taiwan Strait on the establishment of a framework for peace and stability as well as an exchange of envoys.
"We think that the president only brought up issues but not answers to those issues. We highly doubt whether President Chen Shui-bian can really implement the program he spoke about," said PFP caucus leader Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), adding that Chen's comments were "empty words."
During the press conference, Chen also proposed setting up a demilitarized zone on both sides of the Strait. The idea was similar to that outlined by KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) last Saturday when he pledged that he would withdraw all military forces from Taiwan's outlying islands in the Kinmen group if he wins the presidential election. Lien also said that he would travel to China to ask Beijing to remove its missiles aimed at Taiwan if he takes office.
The pan-blue alliance criticized Chen's call for a cross-strait demilitarization zone, saying that such an idea was contradictory to one of the two questions Chen announced for his planned referendum, as he plans to ask the people whether they support enhancing the nation's defensive capabilities should China refuse to withdraw the missiles it had targeted at Taiwan.
Meanwhile, with the presidential election approaching, PFP Chairman James Soong (
Referring to the accusation made by the former chairman of the Tuntex Group, Chen Yu-hao (
In three open letters, faxed to select media and opposition lawmakers on Monday, Chen Yu-hao said that Chen Shui-bian had accepted his donations in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election and the Taipei City mayoral race in 1998. Chen Yu-hao is one of the nation's 10 most-wanted fugitives, and was indicted on charges of breach of trust in August 2002
Stressing that Chen Yu-hao's letters were not at all part of a scheme developed by his party, Soong went on and lambasted the Chen administration of being corrupt, branding the Presidential Office "the black-gold epicenter."
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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